There is going to be very little room for error in the West Yosemite League.

Just ask Golden West.

After committing three errors and five passed balls, the Trailblazers found themselves on the wrong end of an 11-3 loss against Mt. Whitney on Wednesday afternoon at Golden West.

Mt. Whitney took full advantage of every mistake Golden West made as it opened the WYL season with a victory, improving to 6-9 overall.

"It's always fun to win the first one," Mt. Whitney first-year coach Nick Yockey said. "But we have to get better every game and keep improving and not regress at all."

While Golden West hurt itself with mistakes, Mt. Whitney was able to settle down in the later innings and poured it on.

Leading 6-2, Mt. Whitney added one run in the sixth inning and four runs in the seventh inning to put Golden West away.

"I don't know about jitters," Yockey said about the team's slow start. " But it was about making adjustments on the fly and making sure we're seeing the pitch we want and adjusting to their pitchers as they adjust to us."

Mt. Whitney adjusted and Golden West did not.

"We just didn't take care of the baseball," Golden West coach Rick Lantrip said. "There's no excuse. We didn't take care of the baseball and eight unearned runs against anybody is hard to overcome."

Mt. Whitney starting pitcher Brandon Howard received plenty of run support from his offense.

Howard had a solid outing against the Trailblazers, limiting them to just two runs on four hits in six innings of work. Both runs he surrendered were unearned.

"We have a lot of confidence in [Howard]," Yockey said. "He's going to be our horse. He'll keep getting better and better."

Golden West starting pitcher Troy Stainbrook took the loss. He pitched four innings and gave up just three hits. He also walked three and hit two batters. All six runs scored off him were unearned.

The Trailblazers fell to 3-7 on the season.

"I think they have the talent to get better," Lantrip said. "What they lack is the belief that they are better than they have shown. Once they figure it out, we'll be a lot better. Until that happens, we'll take our lumps."

Golden West better figure it out soon if it hopes to turn things around and make the postseason for a third straight season.

The Trailblazers entered the WYL season with a 3-6 record, which means they will likely have to finish 6-6 in league to clinch a postseason berth.

And in a tough league, that isn't going to be a given.

"In my opinion, outside of the TRAC, this is one of the toughest leagues in the Central Valley," Lantrip said. "The WYL is no slouch. You have to compete every day. If you don't, you're going to get bit."

Mt. Whitney was proof of that.

The Pioneers are hoping to carry their momentum of Wednesday's win into Friday where they will host El Diamante at 4:15 p.m.

"We want to keep gelling and keeping working hard to make sure we keep getting better and better," Yockey said. "As long as they stay hungry, we'll keep competing."